This application requests funding for a new Combined Training Program in Digestive Disease Sciences. The overall goal of the program is to train qualified individuals with a M.D., Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. degree committed to a research career in the broad field of digestive health sciences. The program will educate such individuals in a comprehensive fashion so that, upon completing the program, they will be able to excel as independent investigators and successfully compete for funding at the national level. The foundation of the proposed program is based on the strategic planning and consolidated efforts of the Departments of Gastroenterology at the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University as well as affiliated basic science Departments at both institutions. The recruited faculty sustained a reputation of excellence based on superior clinical and basic research, ample funding from the NIH, and has a combined research space in excess of 100,000 square feet. A unique aspect of the program is its Multiple Program Director approach, which will allow research to span departmental boundaries and enlist preceptors with a tradition of highly productive collaborations who have trained a large number of young investigators in an effective interdisciplinary manner. Twenty Mentors and 18 Co-Mentors from 13 Departments, representing a wide range of scientific interest and expertise, will offer a multiplicity of training opportunities that will be tailored to the scientific interest and career goals of each trainee. The specific expertise and main research areas of the Mentors will include Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Liver Disease, Gastrointestinal Oncoloy [sic], Clinical Epidemiology and Outcome Research, and Genetics. In addition to the resources available in the laboratories of individual Mentors, the trainees will take advantage of the rich combined scientific environment of the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University. This application seeks 4 post-doctoral positions in year 1, and 4 new trainee positions in each of the subsequent years. Each successful applicant will be trained for a minimum period of two years by the institutional grant. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Delivery of optimal medical care entails far more than providing excellent clinical training. Progress in the complex field of gastroenterology requires special efforts and extended training by young investigators committed to basic research at the bench and bedside in order to generate new knowledge and better therapeutics. The proposed program is aimed at the specific training of such young investigators